Data storage mechanisms such as radio-frequency-identification (RFID) chips are well known and widely used to control and secure inventory, facilitate point of sale transactions, identify and locate equipment and personnel within a facility or area, collect fares or tolls, facilitate ticketed entry into events, and numerous other things. Virtually any application that requires location determination and/or tracking and/or data transfer can be accomplished using RFID technology.
In inventory applications, such as those employed in retail facilities, RFID technology facilitates sales transactions and provides product security. Product security applications, particularly those at retail facilities, require that the RFID chip is disabled to prevent alarm activation upon removal of a product from a secured area of the facility. Typically, the RFID chip is disabled by exposing it to a magnetic or electric field. The chip may alternatively be disabled by physically damaging some portion of the chip, such as its antenna. To prevent unauthorized individuals from damaging the RFID chip to defeat the security system, for example, such chips are often positioned on the product in a manner that limits access thereto.
As an alternative to disabling the RFID chip to circumvent security measures, the security measures may be circumvented by actually removing the chip from the product. To prevent a would-be thief from removing the chip himself/herself, removal typically requires the use of a specially designed tool. Failure to use the special tool results in damage or failure of the chip and concurrent activation of a secondary security device, for example, such as the spilling of a dye onto the product. Removable chips are most frequently seen providing inventory security in retail clothing establishments and include a body portion in which the RFID chip is embedded. The body portion also includes a pin or stake that pierces through a portion of the clothing and is secured by a locking member.
Thus, typical security/tracking measures using RFID chips are either adapted to be securely attached to the product and electrically/magnetically disabled, or they are adapted to be removed using a special tool. These configurations have the obvious advantage that most potential thieves do not enter the facility with an appropriate electric/magnetic field generator and/or a specialized removal tool.
Unless removed, all or a substantial portion of the chip remains with the product after a sale transaction occurs. Thus, any information stored on the chip, unless disabled, can potentially be accessed, tracked, etc. Some consumers do not want any portion of the RFID chip to remain with the product after the sale. Moreover, pin-type removable chips are not suitable for products that include hard packaging.